Shelley Winters (August 18 1920 – January 14 2006) was a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress. Life and career Winters was born Shirley Schrift in East St. Louis, Illinois, the daughter of Jewish parents - Jonas Schrift and Rose Winter. Her family moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was 3 years old. She studied in the Hollywood Studio Club, sharing the same bedroom with another beginner: Marilyn Monroe. As the New York Times obituary noted, "A major movie presence for more than five decades, Shelley Winters turned herself into a widely respected actress who won two Oscars."